As a controversy erupted over candidates being asked to strip down to their underwear for an Army exam in Bihar, the Union government on Tuesday reportedly sought a report from the Army Chief, while t
As a controversy erupted over candidates being asked to strip down to their underwear for an Army exam in Bihar, the Union government on Tuesday reportedly sought a report from the Army Chief, while the Patna high court directed the ministry of defence to give a reply by April 5. While initially maintaining that no report had been sought from it by the MoD so far, the Army late on Tuesday evening said it had “taken serious note of the incident and has directed corrective measures ...”.
According to news agency reports from Bihar, while defending the bare body recruitment test, director (recruitment) at Army regional office in Muzaffarpur Col. V.S. Godra told reporters that it was a preventive measure against cheating. Pictures showed candidates, dressed only in their underwear, cross-legged at Chakkar Maidan, an open ground in Muzaffarpur, about 100 km from Patna, putting pen to paper in the hope of making it to the Army.
On the basis of photographs appearing in some newspapers, lawyer Deenu Kumar had filed a PIL on Monday which a division bench of acting chief justice Iqbal Ahmad Ansari and Justice Chakradhari Saran Singh had converted into a writ and gave the order on Tuesday to the MoD to reply by April 5.
In a statement issued from New Delhi late on Tuesday evening, the Army said, “The Army headquarters has taken serious note of the incident and has directed corrective measures for ensuring fairness (in examinations) without causing embarrassment to candidates”.
